August 2026 Puzzle Game Advertising Report

AUGUST 2026

Puzzle game advertising reached 1.45 million active ads in August 2026, up 5.09% from July. Video remained the largest format, playable ads grew 31.02%, and Zen Word led both the Android and iOS rankings.

Key Takeaways

• Track the flow of new ads alongside category growth. Active ads rose 5.09% while average run length fell from 24.8 to 20.5 days, making regular reviews of new launches a useful complement to monthly rankings.
• Video contributes scale; playables add momentum. Video added approximately 82,800 ads and held 80.2% of volume. Playables grew fastest at 31.02%, reaching a 5.1% share.
• Build a watchlist around both volume and new activity. Oakever held the first six Android positions and the first three iOS positions. New-to-active ad ratios also bring smaller titles such as Color Bus Fill into focus.

Data Scope

Active Ads Rose as Average Run Length Fell

The category’s active ad count increased from 1,383,100 in July to 1,453,400 in August, a reported gain of 5.09%. Over the same period, average run length declined from 24.8 days to 20.5 days, down 17.34%.

The combination points to a larger pool of active advertising with shorter average runs. For a creative team, that makes the flow of newly launched ads worth watching alongside total volume: a monthly snapshot captures scale, while a weekly review can catch changes in the ads entering that pool.

A practical response is to keep a rolling competitor watchlist. Compare new ads with those still running from earlier periods, and look for changes in opening scenes, puzzle demonstrations, and calls to action. The shorter August average makes this review cadence particularly relevant.

Playable Ads Grew 31.02%; Video Held an 80.2% Share

Video accounted for 80.2% of August ad volume, up from 78.3% in July. Its reported count increased 7.65% to 1,165,700. Image ads declined 12.39% to 213,000, and their share fell from 17.6% to 14.7%.

Playable ads grew from approximately 56,900 to 74,600. The database figures show a 31.02% increase, or approximately 17,600 additional ads. Playables gained 1.0 percentage point of share, reaching 5.1% of August volume.

Counts and reported growth rates retain the database’s reporting precision. See Data Notes for rounding details.

The fastest-growing format and the largest contributor to additional volume therefore deserve different roles in a creative research plan. Keep video central to competitor benchmarking, and give playables a dedicated test track. Their 31.02% growth makes them worth closer attention, while their 5.1% share keeps that increase in perspective.

Image ads still accounted for 213,000 records in August. Their decline supports a more selective review of static executions: identify which puzzle concepts and visual treatments remain active, while putting more of the discovery effort into the two expanding formats.

Android Puzzle Game Advertising: Top 20

Zen Word ranked first with 73,500 active ads and 59,600 new ads. Its active ad count was approximately 1.9 times Amaze GO!’s 38,300, giving the leader a substantial gap within this ranking. Jigsawcard Solitaire Puzzle followed at 22,400.

Zen Word combines the largest observed volume with a high new-to-active ad ratio of 81.1%. Farther down the list, Color Bus Fill ranked 15th by active ads but recorded 6,200 new ads against 7,000 active ads, a ratio of 88.6%. A useful watchlist should include both large-volume leaders and smaller titles with a high proportion of new activity.

iOS Puzzle Game Advertising: Top 20

Zen Word also led the iOS list, with 19,100 active ads and 15,000 new ads. Amaze GO! ranked second with 10,400 active ads, followed by Meowdoku! with 9,600.

Below the shared leaders, the iOS list brings a different set of titles into focus. One Line ranked fourth, Brain Who? fifth, and Braindom seventh. These entries give iOS competitor research a distinct drawing-puzzle and brain-teaser shortlist alongside the titles appearing on both platforms.

Oakever Occupied the Leading Positions on Both Platforms

Oakever Games held seven of the Android top 10 positions, including all of the first six. On iOS, titles listed under Oakever Games or OAKEVER GAMES PTE. LTD. held six of the top 10 positions, including the first three.

Zen Word and Amaze GO! ranked first and second, respectively, on both platforms. Oakever’s presence also extended across word, jigsaw, sudoku, and coloring titles in the top 10. That breadth makes a portfolio-level review useful: compare how related puzzle formats are presented across its leading games, then look for recurring approaches worth testing against your own creative brief.

New Ad Activity Changes the Competitive Shortlist

Rankings show which titles have the most active ads. Comparing new ads with active ads adds a second view: how much new activity sits alongside that volume. For August 1–31, the ratios below use each title’s new ad count divided by its active ad count on the same platform.

Zen Word stands out for combining leading volume with substantial new activity on both platforms. Color Bus Fill on Android and Oakever’s Sudoku – Brain Puzzle Games on iOS are useful additions to a watchlist focused on new ad launches, despite sitting below the top three by volume.

Jigsawscapes illustrates why platform-specific tracking matters. Its Android listing had roughly four times the active ad volume of its iOS listing, while the new-to-active ratio was much higher on iOS: 83.3% versus 41.3%. Prioritize iOS when reviewing its latest ad launches, and use Android to examine the larger pool of active executions.

CreativeScope Take: Three Research Priorities

August’s figures suggest a practical order for competitive research and creative planning:

1. Keep video at the center of your research. It represented 80.2% of tracked ad volume and contributed the largest absolute increase. Compare opening hooks, the clarity of puzzle demonstrations, and the transition to the install prompt across the leading titles.
2. Give playables a focused test track. Their 31.02% growth and rising share make interaction design a useful area to explore. Start with a small set of puzzle concepts and compare alternative first actions, difficulty levels, and feedback sequences in your own tests.
3. Track scale and new activity separately. Use Zen Word and Amaze GO! as recurring benchmarks, add smaller titles with high new-to-active ratios, and maintain distinct Android and iOS watchlists. Review new launches weekly to keep the brief current.

The resulting research plan covers the category’s main source of ad volume, its fastest-growing format, and the titles offering a substantial flow of new ads to examine.

Data Notes

• Source: CreativeScope database. Reporting period: August 1–31, 2026, with July 2026 as the comparison month. Android and iOS rankings are presented separately.
• Active ads and new ads refer to tracked ad records. Meta-family ad counts are consolidated. Format shares describe the distribution of those records.
• Counts are converted from monthly figures reported in units of 10,000 ads. Published growth rates retain the database’s reporting precision. Additional comparisons use the displayed rounded counts; new-to-active ratios equal new ads divided by active ads for the same title, platform, and month.
• Rounding accounts for small differences between displayed figures: format counts sum to 1,382,900 in July and 1,453,300 in August, versus category totals of 1,383,100 and 1,453,400. The reported playable increase is approximately 17,600; subtracting the rounded endpoints gives approximately 17,700.